Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

No I did not go inside while on acid!! I walked around the outside, stopping to stare at various times. I did go inside Barcelona Cathedral and Casa Batllo, but both were totally fine because crowds were minimal and super chill.

Originally Posted by boarderwoozel3

I just want to ingest mind-altering chemicals and get my mind blown by tribal lasers.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

I like the Kompakt beach party at Mac Arena Mar Beach Club for Sunday. Thinking I will split my time between there and 1redlight.

Yep. That looks like my Sunday plan as well.

Well went on a ticket buying spree last night. All the prices were reasonable so still room for adjustment if something better pops up except for Friday night. I'm sure Sonar by Night Friday will have enough going on for me. Still not sure if I should make Thursday night but got a ticket just in case. Probably will against better judgment.

Wed - Ovum Showcase @ Boulevard Culture Club
Thurs - Hessle Audio @ BeCool
Fri - Sonar by Night
Sat - Open. Going to wait to see what more gets announced. Maybe check out something I am not familiar with or see if I can find one of the free admission flyers for Hotflush @ Nitsa around town.
Sun - 20 Years of Kompakt @ Mac Arena Mar Beach Club (Day); 1Redlight @ Parc del forum (Night)

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

Yeah I was going to wait it out but got drunk and decided it was a good idea to pull the trigger. I'm happy with the prices I'm locked in at but hope I dont end up wasting them if something better comes out.

Thursday was a hard one to decide - stay in, shell out $$ for Life and Death/East Ender, or Techno Taverna Showcase (heard good things about Keinemusik label & Til von Sein)/ Hessle Audio. But saw this video somewhere and was sold.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

Yea, Life & Death was really tempting for me too... I waited too long and it wasn't worth 40-50 euro to me though.

For the Hessle Audio show, one of my friends (Loose at the Zoo) went to that last year and had good things to say. I suspect that lineup doesn't pull casual Sonar fans or people who are just looking for a big party. The lineup looks great and I'm looking forward to checking out BeCool... not sure if revolving dance floor will be awesome or disorienting. I missed Ben UFO in SF and have been wanting to see Pangaea for a while.

I think I wasted two tickets last year,... it's better to have options than regrets, I say. While some of these will have tickets available at the door, I didn't really want to have to get there at 10PM to get in.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

I bought my Hessle Audio ticket cause I'd like to see Joy O as i always seem to miss him plus the ticket was only 12 euros. Will probably miss Joy O again though as I'm really up for Life and Death. Venue and line up look great.

Went to BeCool last year for the Air London party- revolving dance floor is a lot of fun if you've been getting on it all day....

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

That sounds about right.

Originally Posted by Jards

From what I've seen so far, it looks like all the DJs playing the official festival are not playing any off Sonar parties for their respective labels i.e Clockwork and Life and Death, George Fitzgerald and Hotflush. Maybe its in the contract....

I overlooked this last week - my memory is that some of the artists booked for Sonar do play off-Sonar parties but they are later announcements. There are a few parties that have "TBA artist from Sonar lineup" or similar this year. I wouldn't count on a Hot Creations party though, no.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

I just had an epiphany as to why Boulevard was such a bad experience. Entry is FREE between 11PM-12AM even for off-sonar events (provided they haven't hit capacity).

No fucking wonder... I think my friends and I got there a little after midnight, and it was SO packed, and everyone around us was a complete shithead. It was practically empty by 3:30 though. I think my plan this time around will be to show up much later after the drunks have done themselves in and have left.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

Originally Posted by chiapet

That sounds about right.

I overlooked this last week - my memory is that some of the artists booked for Sonar do play off-Sonar parties but they are later announcements. There are a few parties that have "TBA artist from Sonar lineup" or similar this year. I wouldn't count on a Hot Creations party though, no.

Cool- hopefully I can catch DJs who are playing the Sonar by night on the Friday at another party.

Anyone actually been to Bloc? I'm considering Hypercolour on the Friday night but I'm trying to avoid indoor parties unless the venue is exceptional and the line up's great. Hypercolour would be sick but I can pretty much catch them on any given month around London. May just stick Apollonia vs Visionquest at Mac Arena Mar....

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

Geezus, I really have a problem. Just bought a ticket for that SUOL party at Bloc and for the Donato Dozzy vs. Prins Thomas thing at BeCool on Saturday. Officially have more tickets than I can use. I need to be blocked from visiting RA until after June.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

Definitely, I actually haven't been keeping up with all of Max's releases since the end of last year so I'm looking forward to hearing how he's progressed but I did see him quite a bit last year.

Some German backpackers I've met that I've been trading music suggestions with recommended Fritz and it doesn't look like he's been to the states yet.... In the end, my goal is not to get fired by the end of that week so I'm not going to get carried away and hopefully not be up all night. ha.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

Definitely, I actually haven't been keeping up with all of Max's releases since the end of last year so I'm looking forward to hearing how he's progressed but I did see him quite a bit last year.

Nor have I, actually, I just started catching up this week. He's so prolific that it's tough to keep up. Did you catch him at his first SF set (or another set), or only at Public Works? I heard the PW show in October was a disaster... so it will certainly be better than that.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

Saw him a few times last year. Saw him at Monarch (from the rec of this board...probably you!), PW and at dB festival. Really liked the dB show with the a/v. His PW show had no flow...Monarch was much better.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

I am considering going to Sonar for 2014. Can someone give me a little Sonar summary? Like what is the vibe? How is it different from Coachella (aside from obvious ways)? How well run is it? How are the people?

I have been tracking the lineup for a few years now and have been really interested in going. I listen to a lot of the coverage the BBC does of it. Any other comments/details would be helpful.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

Sorry guys. I worded my post the wrong way. I am not looking for a summary, I am familiar with the Sonar Festival. I had read this whole thread plus 2012. But, I will go and check out the prior years as well.

To be much more specific, for people who go to both to Coachella and Sonar, are there certain aspects about Sonar you like better than Coachella, aside from the obvious, being in Spain and focused on electronic music. I am just trying to figure out if I have to choose one over the other this year, what I will do. Obviously, the main factor being lineups.

Re: Sonar 2013 and off Sonar events

I really don't know how to compare them as they are nothing alike. When people speak of "Sonar" they are usually referring to the combination of official Sonar events and "off Sonar" events, which can number 40+ per day across many different venues spanning almost 24 hours a day. It's tough to relate that to a destination festival in a single location.

My best advice would be to go to Resident Advisor and look at the Sonar guide. When considering off-Sonar events, do you like what you see, lineup wise? If you do, you can count on having something similar next year. It may not be the same exact acts but the parties are fairly similar in terms of which labels/promoters throw them and the style of the event year to year. Also, keep in mind that there are very few live bands / rock bands playing these events so if you're not interested in seeing mostly electronic music for several days, it may not be the right festival for you.

I haven't been to Coachella for a couple of years so I can't really comment on the vibe/crowd, but part of the reason I stopped going to Coachella was that I felt like it was overrun by kids and bros. There is... some of that at Sonar, but it's an older crowd than Coachella and it's also a much heavier partying crowd than I've seen at Coachella. It brings in a lot of people who are used to going to Ibiza or who are used to going out dancing every single weekend, so in a sense, they can handle their partying better than the average Coachella attendee, but on the other hand, they do get sloppy because it's round the clock partying.